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Letter to Ranking Member Collin Peterson, House Committee on Agriculture - Reject Rep. King's Provision on Farm Bill

Letter

By: Jim McGovern, Jan Schakowsky, Mike Capuano, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jared Huffman, Jackie Speier, Robin Kelly, Doris Matsui, John Dingell, Mike Quigley, Richard Neal, Elijah Cummings, Corrine Brown, Ben Luján, Jr., Sheila Jackson Lee, Lacy Clay, Jr., Eleanor Norton, Sandy Levin, Janice Hahn, Scott Peters, Gregory Meeks, José Serrano, Donna Edwards, Allyson Schwartz, Chris Van Hollen, Jr., Barbara Lee, Grace Napolitano, Nick Rahall II, Kathy Castor, Jim McDermott, Pete Gallego, Denny Heck, Alan Lowenthal, John Lewis, Linda Sánchez, Marcy Kaptur, Rosa DeLauro, Pedro Pierluisi, Karen Bass, Mike Michaud, Charlie Rangel, Jerry Nadler, Tony Cárdenas, David Cicilline, Adam Smith, Dan Kildee, Steve Israel, Raul Grijalva, Rick Nolan, Gloria Negrete McLeod, Bobby Rush, Brad Sherman, Chaka Fattah, Sr., Joe Courtney, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Suzan DelBene, Jim Costa, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Joyce Beatty, Mark Pocan, Mike Thompson, John Sarbanes, Niki Tsongas, Beto O'Rourke, Madeleine Bordallo, Gerry Connolly, Sam Farr, Jerry McNerney, Juan Vargas, Bill Pascrell, Jr., Kyrsten Sinema, Tammy Duckworth, Mike Honda, John Yarmuth, Dina Titus, Filemon Vela, Jr., John Conyers, Jr., Yvette Clarke, Ami Bera, Jim Himes, Albio Sires, Cedric Richmond, Tim Ryan, Gary Peters, Annie Kuster, Adam Schiff, Marc Veasey, Ted Deutch, Lois Capps, Mike Doyle, Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Earl Blumenauer, Henry Waxman, Bob Brady, Nita Lowey, Rush Holt, Jr., Carolyn Maloney, Rubén Hinojosa, Sr., John Delaney, Dutch Ruppersberger, Brian Higgins, Colleen Hanabusa, Eric Swalwell, Carol Shea-Porter, Julia Brownley, Alcee Hastings, Sr., Matt Cartwright, George Miller, Susan Davis, Elizabeth Esty, Frank Pallone, Jr., Jim Moran, Jr., Lois Frankel, Chellie Pingree, Loretta Sanchez, Eliot Engel, Kurt Schrader, Jared Polis, Bill Owens, David Price, Zoe Lofgren, Mark Takano, Patrick Murphy, Betty McCollum, Judy Chu, Danny Davis, Derek Kilmer, Joe Kennedy III, Jim Langevin, Paul Tonko, Eddie Johnson, John Tierney, Rick Larsen, Louise Slaughter, Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio, Bill Keating, Stephen Lynch, John Larson, Grace Meng, Keith Ellison, Steve Cohen, Anna Eshoo, Frederica Wilson, John Garamendi, Henry Cuellar, Raul Ruiz, Gwen Moore, Peter Welch, Don Payne, Jr., Bobby Scott
Date: Aug. 2, 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Agriculture and Food

Dear Ranking Member Peterson:

We are writing to voice our strong opposition to Sec. 11312 of the House-passed Farm Bill (H.R. 2642), a provision that was offered by Rep. Steve King during Agriculture Committee mark-up. This provision threatens to undermine an untold number of duly-enacted state laws and regulations affecting agricultural production, and create uncertainty in the agriculture sector. We urge you to ensure that neither the King language nor anything like it is included in the final conference report on the Farm Bill.

We believe that Congress should not usurp the power of states to address the concerns of their citizens on animal protection or any number of other subjects. The breadth and ambiguity of Rep. King's amendment are striking. It would nullify state laws that impose "a standard or condition" on agricultural products, and has the potential to repeal a vast array of state laws and regulations covering everything from food safety to environmental protection to child labor to animal welfare. For example, labeling and other rules for products and ingredients such as artificial sweeteners, maple syrup, milk fat, farm-raised fish, tobacco, and additives in alcohol could be swept away, as could restrictions on import of firewood carrying invasive pests, rules on pesticide exposure and lagoon siting, safety standards for farm workers handling dangerous equipment, and laws restricting practices such as the killing of sharks for their fins and the sale of dog and cat meat.

Although this legislation could have a vast impact, it has not been subject to rigorous scrutiny. Such a sweeping change in law should only be considered after a thorough hearing process and an absolute understanding of its full impact on state laws. Furthermore, the Rules Committee denied us the opportunity to have a floor debate on the issue by ruling out of order an amendment by Congressmen Denham, Schrader, Campbell, Meeks, Fitzpatrick and Cárdenas to strike the King provision.

The King amendment represents an additional layer of serious controversy on already controversial legislation. As you work with colleagues to develop a final Farm Bill package for consideration by the House and to find sufficient votes to pass it, we strongly urge you to do all you can to keep out the King amendment and any provision like it.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,


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